NAVI MUMBAI: Several hundred containers of imported dal are reportedly lying unclaimed in various container freight stations (CFS) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) as private trader consignees have not come forward to take the food items to the markets.

Sources in JNPT feel that the imported dal, especially tur dal, is languishing in 33 locations within the port, mainly due to the recent scare among traders following the raids on dal hoarders by the ministry of food and civil supplies.

When contacted by TOI, the JNPT chief manager (traffic) A K Bose said, “At present I do not have the exact estimate of how many dal containers are lying in the 33 CFS. On our part, we are giving top priority to essential food cargo like dal and onion and clearing them from the port. However, once the containers reach the CFS, it is the lookout of private agencies to take them after getting through Customs.”

Another JNPT official informed, “The government agency Metals and Minerals Trading Corporaiton has been the main consignee for importing tur dal in the last two months in order to stablize the prices. However, the reason why some of the food containers are still lying in CFS is to be studied.”

Meanwhile, the secretary of grain rice and oilseeds merchants’ association Popatlal Bhandari said, “We are not connected with the import of dal but slowly the wholesale prices of dal are coming down due to raids carried out against hoarders in Maharashtra and other states.”

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